Thursday, April 6, 2017

PERGAMUM FETED ANTINOUS & HADRIAN AS THE NEW GANYMEDE AND JUPITER

ANTINOUS and Hadrian were welcomed as the new Ganymede and Zeus/Jupiter when they arrived in the fabulous city of Pergamum in Asia Minor in the spring of 129 AD.The people
of Pergamum having once been firmly under the control of the Persian
Empire, and then living under the domination of the Hellenistic kings of
the Attalid Dynasty, were accustomed to worshipping their rulers as
gods, and it is believed that the province of Asia is the birthplace of
the Cult of the Emperors.

Hadrian
was declared and openly worshipped as a living god by the residents, an
honor that he did not refuse. Antinous being his chosen favorite was
also viewed with interest, and began to take his place here as the
Divine consort, as the Ganymede, who was a local deity.

When
Alexander the Great died, one of his generals, named Lysimachus, made
Pergamum his capital. The Kingdom of Pergamum, under the Attalid Kings
was to become the strongest power in Asia Minor for the centuries
preceding conquest by Rome.

It remained a grand and wealthy city
throughout Roman times, and was mentioned in the Christian Book of
Revelation as one of the Seven Churches of the world.

The main
temple of Pergamum was dedicated to Zeus, and was richly ornamented by a
frieze depicting the war between the Olympic gods and the Titans.
Portions of that frieze are now on permanent exhibit at the Pergamon
Museum in Berlin.

Hadrian
built a magnificent Temple to the Divine Trajan, his Father, and so it
is in this vein that we consecrate the visitation of Hadrian and
Antinous to Zeus, as the spirit of the Divine Emperors, and as the
conqueror of Titanic chaos.

We in the Religion of Antinous
remember the gentle love of Hadrian for his beautiful Antinous in an age
when the virtues of Hellenism and divine order prevailed over the chaos
of fear and rage and the desire to destroy.